Means for attaching draft-timbers.



No. 69l,085.

Patented Jan. l4, i902. A. L. TURNIPSEED & S. T. WILLIAMS.

MEANS FOR ATTACHING DRAFT TIMBERS.

(Application file'd Mar. 19, 1901.)

(No Model'.)

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llniTnn STnTns PATENT QTTTc-n ARTHUR L. TURNIPSEED AND SIDNEY THOMASWILLIAMS, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

MEANS FOR ATTACHENG DRAFT TIWIBERS.

SJEEGKFIGATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 691,085, dated January14, 1902. Application filed March 19,1901. Serial No. 51,887. (Nomodel.)

T0 (r/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR L. TURNIP- snnn and SIDNEY THOMAS WILLIAMS,citizens of the United States,'residing at Memphis, Shelby county, Stateof Tennessee, l1avein vented certain new and useful Improvements inMeans of Attaching Draft -Timbers, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in means ofattaching draft-timbers to the draft-sills of freight-cars.

It has for its object to provide means of attaching draft-timbers,whereby same may be attached or removed without the necessity ofremoving any bolts or of entering the car, especially where the car isloaded, since such entrance would then necessitate transferring; orshifting the load. We accomplish this object in the manner more fullyhereinafter set forth in the drawings, specification, and claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of one end of afreight-car, showing the relation of the draft-sills and draft-timbers,said section being taken on the line 1 l of Fig. 2 looking in thedirection of the arrow. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the end of a carlooking up from beneath, showing an ar rangement of car and draft-sillswith drafttimbers attached. Fig. 3 is a view on a larger scale, beingapproximately one-half full size, of the key and fastening piece whichconstitutes our invention.

Referring now to the drawings, in which like parts are indicated by likeletters of ref erence in all the views, A A are the car draftsills, towhich the draft-timbers B are to be fastened.

O C are the key and fastening pieces,which are recessed into thedraft-sills and the drafttimbers B and are bolted to the draft-sills Aby bolts D passing through the holes (Z in said pieces, the heads of thesaid bolts being preferably countersunk in the under side of the piece 0and the edge a of same being brought flush with the lower edge of thedraftsills A, The draft-timbers B are recessed, as before stated, to fitthe projecting lower halves of the key-pieces C, and bolts E are passedthrough the said timbers and into holes Gr, Fig. 3, cored into thecenter of the said key-pieces, which holes fit the head of the bolt Eand have a centrally-located bolt-hole 9 leading from them through thebottom of the piece. A slot F is cut outward on one side from this coredhole G and the bolt-hole g, which slot permits the insertion of the boltfrom the side. The hole G for the bolt-head is deeper than thebolt-head, and the slot F into it from the side does not come flush withthe bottom of it, so that cars or lugs f are left at the entrance, whichlugs form a pocket into which the head of the bolt drops, which pocketserves to keep the head of the bolt from working out sidewise. The mouthof the slot F is slightly rounded to guide the bolts E to place.

To attach the draft-timber B, the recesses are cut to fit the lower halfof the key-pieces G, and bolts E are inserted through the timbers in thecenter of these recesses, the heads of said bolts being left projectingabove the top of the timber. The timber is then brought parallel to thedraft-sill A, the bolt-heads coining opposite the slots F, through whichthey are slipped into the cored holes or pockets G. The nuts of thebolts E on the under side of the draft-timber B are then screwed up, thebolts being thereby drawn down into the pockets G and the timber drawnto place. Bolts H may be next inserted through the outer end of thedrafttimber B and the dead-wood I, thus completing the attachment ofsame. When thus bolted up, the pieces 0 serve as keys to take up thedraft pull, and the bolts E hold the timbers B to place. Should adraft-timber be broken or injured in any way, it may be replaced bysimply loosening the bolts E and tapping them on their lower ends todisengage their heads from the pockets Gr, and when the bolts are soloosened slipping the timber out sidewise. Since the upper part of thekey is stronger and is held by two bolts and the draft-sill iscomparatively protected, no damage ordinarily will result which willmake necessary the removal of the said key-piece from the draft-sill.The advantages to be derived from this construction of course becomeespecially noticeable when a loaded car has to be repaired, since theload will not have to be transferred or unloaded to remove bolts.

It has been customary to insert a bolt through both the draft-sill anddraft-timber, the bolt-head being inside the car. When, therefore, itbecame necessary to remove a bolt for any reason, access was necessaryto the head of same in the car, and this often necessitated shifting ortransferring the load.

While we have shown and described our invention with especial referenceto railroad freight-cars, it is of course evident that same may be usedin any analogous position to hold two timbers together.

Having now fully described our invention, what we claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The combination with the draft-sill, and draft-timber to be fastenedtogether, of a key connecting-piece,bolts through said key-piece anddraft-sill to attach said key-piece to said sill, a depressed pocket insaid key-piece, a slot leading from one side of said Key-piece to saidpocket and a bolt inserted through said draft-timber and into saidpocket, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination with the draft-sill and draft-timber to be fastenedtogether and mortises in each of said timbers, of key connecting-pieces,fitting said mortises, bolts passing through said key-pieces anddraft-sill to attach said pieces to said sill, a depressed pocket in thecenter of each key-piece, a slot in each leading from the side to saidpocket and a bolt in each of said pockets extending through saiddraft-timber, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination with two timbers to be fastened together of a keyconnecting-piece, bolts through said key-piece and oneof said timbers toattach said key-piece to said timher, a depressed pocket in saidkey-piece, a slot leading from one side of said key-piece to said pocketand a bolt inserted in said pocket and extending through the other ofsaid timbers, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

ARTHUR L. TURNIPSEED. S. THOMAS WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

P. J. MORAN, JNo. COLBERT.

